Rotary skewer cooker

ABSTRACT

A cooker of the type having a series of vertically oriented skewers disposed in a circle about a central vertically oriented heating element, the skewers being individually rotatable relative to the heating element. In this rotary skewer cooker environment, this invention is directed to a novel food drippings removal assembly which permits easy cleaning of the cooker.

This invention relates to cookers. More particularly, this inventionrelates to a rotary skewer cooker.

Rotary cooking is a very well known and very old method of cooking food.The cooking of food by placing it on a spit or skewer, and then rotatingthat skewer over a heat source, is very, very old. Initially, suchcooking techniques were no doubt used over the open campfire. Morerecently, and in the case of outdoor grills used in suburbia orelsewhere, food is grilled on a spit or skewer oriented horizontallyover a heat source. In such grills, normally there is only one, or atmost two, spits or skewers horizontally positioned over the heat source,and each skewer normally may be rotated about its axis if desired by theuser. Such outdoor grills have made use of charcoal beds, electricheating elements, and gas burners as the heat source.

It is also known, however, to provide a rotary skewer cooker in whichthe skewers are vertically oriented. In this type cooker there may be,for example, four or six skewers that are vertically oriented on acircular locus of points with a heat source (e.g., an electric heatingelement) vertically positioned centrally of that circular locus. Theskewers are rotated by a drive mechanism located in a base, one end ofeach skewer being connected with that drive mechanism during the cookingcycle. Each skewer rotates about its own axis only, and does not rotatearound the centrally positioned heating element. This type of rotaryskewer cooker has been made and sold in the retail consumer marketplace,and is particularly directed to indoor use where it is useful in cookinga number of different types of foods. This type of rotary skewer cookeralso can be sized so that it is easily portable, thereby allowing foodsto be cooked in rooms of the home other than the kitchen. In otherwords, this type of cooker has been marketed for use in the home'sdining room or in the den or in the playroom. Such a rotary skewercooker is useful in preparing hors d'oeuvre or entrees or snacks, and isuseful in preparing any type of food or food combination that normallymay be cooked on a skewer. Such foods, of course, include meats, fish,vegetables, fruits or the like.

One of the problems associated with rotary, vertical skewer cookers ofthe prior art which have been marketed to the retail consumer is basedon the desirability of removing food drippings, including grease, fromthe cooker. It is important that the food drippings be retained in acontainer of reasonable capacity, and that the container be easilyremoved for periodic cleaning during and/or after use of the cooker. Ofcourse, it is also important that the food drippings collected from theplural skewers be directed to the drippings' container without foulingthe cooker's skewer drive mechanism.

Therefore, it has been the objective of this invention to provide animproved rotary, vertical skewer cooker having a novel food drippingsremoval assembly, that assembly preferably incorporating a speciallypitched drip tray that cooperates with a collector cup received in aspecially sized pocket defined in the cooker's base for directingdrippings from the cooked food into that collector cup and away from theskewer drive mechanism, thereby permitting the cooker to be usedcontinuously for an extended period without need for periodic cleaningsbut permitting very quick emptying of the collector cup if it becomesfilled during use.

Other objectives and advantages of this invention will be more apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an improved rotary skewer cooker inaccord with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of various components of therotary cooker shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a part of the cooker's skewer drivemechanism;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the cooker's drippingscollector cup taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 3;

and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the electric circuit of the rotaryskewer cooker.

The rotary skewer cooker 10 of this invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2, basically includes a series of skewers 11 (eight being shown)which are vertically oriented (relative to ground) and are positioned ona circular locus 12 of points. A vertically oriented electric heatingelement 13 is positioned centrally of the circular locus 12. Both theskewers 11 and the heating element 13 are vertically supported on a base14 that encloses a skewer drive mechanism 15 for rotating all of theskewers. The base also includes a food drippings removal assembly 16which incorporates drip tray 17 and collector cup 18 for receiving andtemporarily storing the grease and food drippings of food cooked on theskewers 11. The base 14 also supports a transparent skewer enclosure 19for promoting even cooking of food on the skewers, as well as preventingthe splattering of grease or other food drippings to the environment ofthe cooker during use.

The base 14 of the rotray skewer cooker 10 is particularly illustratedin FIGS. 2-4. The base 14 includes a housing 20 fabricated of aone-piece configuration that establishes a floor 21 and a circularsidewall 22. Two handles 23 are formed on opposite sides of the housing20 and extend radially outward therefrom, each of the handles includinga handle plate 24 of width W and an outer lip 25 that protrudesdownwardly from the handle's free edge. A pocket 26 is formed within thehousing, and extends radially inward of the housing's sidewall 22 from aposition underneath one 23a of the handles. The housing's pocket 26 isprovided with inner wall 27, opposed sidewalls 28 and a top wall 29, allformed integral with the housing. The pocket's floor is in the form of aseparate floor plate 30 which contains latches 31 that interfit withslots 32 formed in the housing to hold that floor plate in fixedrelation with the housing. This pocket 26 is sized, between its innerwall 27 and sidewalls 28, to receive and to position collector cup 18 inits desired use location when the cup 18 is pushed all the way into thepocket. Note, as shown in FIG. 3, the collector cup 18 has a majorportion 18a sized to fit in freely sliding relation within the pocket,and a hollow handle portion 18b sized to extend beyond the housing'ssidewall 22 when the cup is fully received within the pocket 26. Thecollector cup's hollow handle portion 18b enlarges the drippingscapacity of the cup, and the handle portion 18b is sized and structuredto be located beneath the housing's handle 23a so it is notinadvertently used as a handle for the base 10. Note that the top edge18c of the cup 18 is spaced a substantial distance D beneath the housinghandle's lip 25, and this structural relation, along with the hollowinterior structure of the cup's handle 18b, permits the interior of thecup to be viewed by the cooker's user, thereby allowing the user todetermine easily the level of drippings in the cup for deciding whetheror not the cup should be emptied during use of the cooker 10. Theunderside of the cup's floor 33 is provided with ribs 34 which interfitwith grooves 35 in the top face of the housing's floor plate 30 toprevent the collector cup from inadvertently sliding out if the cookeris tipped when the cup is positioned within the pocket 26. The ribs 34and grooves 35 are relatively shallow, and this tends to restrain thecollector cup 18 within the pocket 26 unless and until it isspecifically removed by a user. There also is a drain pipe 39, formedintegral with the pocket's ceiling 29, which defines a conduit for fooddrippings from the drip tray 17 into the collector cup as explained indetail below.

The skewer drive mechanism 15 is also carried mainly within the base 14.That portion of the skewer drive mechanism 15 positioned within thebase's housing 14 includes a series of seven idler gears 42 and onedrive gear 43, the gears 42, 43 being meshed in planetary fashion witheach gear's center line 44 coinciding with its associated skewer's axis45. Each of the gears 42, 43 is fabricated of a one-piece plasticconfiguration. The half axle 46 on the top side of each gear 42, 43defines an axial square bore 47 therein, same being adapted to cooperatewith a skewer 11 as explained in detail below. The half axle 48 on theunderside of each idler gear includes a cylindrical shaft 49 that fitsin freely rotating relation with an associated tubular support post 50molded integral with the base's housing 20. Square bearing flange 51 onthe underside of each idler gear 42 bears on the top edge 52 of itsassociated gear support post 50, that top edge defining a bearingsurface for the gear. The driven gear 43, which is identical to idlergear 42, is received in adaptor 53 fixed to drive shaft 54 of motor 55.The adaptor 53 provides a square seat 56 sized to receive the squarebearing flange 51 on the underside of the gear in a non-slip fit,thereby providing a driving connection between the motor's drive shaft54 and the driven gear 43. The motor 55 itself is fixed to the housing'sfloor 21 by screws 57 that are received in motor posts 58. Since thedriven gear 43 is meshed with the idler gears 42 on either side thereof,and all idler gears are meshed with other gears on each side thereof,the entire planetary gear train 42, 43 is driven by the electric motor55 through that driven gear when rotation of the gears (and, therefore,rotation of the skewers 11 as explained in further detail below) isdesired.

A base plate 59 is interfitted with the gears 42, 43 and the housing 20to close the otherwise open top of the housing. This base plate 59 is ofa circular configuration, and is provided with a series of upraisedbosses 60 adapted to receive the square bore half axles 46 of the gears.In other words, these upraised bosses 60 are positioned in a circularlocus of points identical to, and adapted to overlie, the circular locusof points defined by the gear support posts 50 molded integral with thehousing's floor 21. The base plate 59 is further provided with anupturned lip 61 around its entire circular periphery, the upturned lipbeing received interiorly of the housing's upper edge 62 when assembledtherewith for the purpose of insuring concentricity of the housing andproper vertical orientation of the skewer gears' axes 44. The base plate59 is held in fixed relation with the housing 20 through use of screws63 received in screw posts 41 also formed integral with the housing'sfloor 21. The height H of these screw posts 41 is such as to properlyposition the base plate 59 vertically with the housing 20 relative tothe skewer gears 42, 43. The base plate 59, therefore, when assembledwith the housing 20 and the gears 42, 43, cooperates with the gear posts50 formed integral with the housing to maintain the gear axes 44vertical, thereby helping to maintain the skewers 11 vertical when theyare rotated through innerconnection with the gears. Further, the baseplate 59 includes a port 64 at the periphery thereof which is sized tosurround the drippings conduit 39 formed integral with the housing 20.

A heating element 13, which is comprised of a triple hair pin loop65--65 configuration, is mounted in generally vertical orientation onthe housing's base plate 59. The heating element 13, which is in thenature of an electrical resistance heater element, is fixed to the baseplate 59 by screws 68 and bracket 69. The heater element 13 is attachedto the base plate 59 in such a position that when each skewer 13 isviewed along a radial line of sight 70 that includes the base's centeraxis 71, all of the four legs 72 of the heater element are exposed tofood on that skewer. The heater 13 itself may be a wire wound resistanceheater with an exterior sheath. The triple hair pin loop 65-67configuration is desirable because it permits the heater 13 to operateat a lower sheath temperature than a single or double post heaterrelative to the total wattage necessary to provide the desired heat. Inpractice, and in preferred form, it has been determined that a 1000 wattelectric resistance heater 13 which operates at 120 volt house current,and that develops a 1300° F. to 1400° F. sheath temperature, is usefulin the cooker 10 of this invention. One end leg 72a of the resistanceheater 13 is connected by lead 74 to one electric line 75, and that sameleg 72a of the heater is connected by lead 76 to the motor 55, see FIG.7. The motor's other lead 77 is connected to the other end leg 72b ofthe resistance heater 13, and that other end leg of the heater isconnected by lead 78 to one pole of off/on switch 79. The other pole ofthe off/on switch 79 is directly connected to the other electric line80. The electric lines 75, 80 are, of course, provided with plug 81 tomake the rotary skewer cooker usable in a home environment.

Each skewer 11 is in the form of a metal rod 83 which has a handle 84permanently fixed thereto at its upper end. The handle 84 is permanentlyfixed to the skewer rod 83, and includes ribs 85 which make the skewer11 easier to handle by its user. The handle 84 also includes conicalflange 86 which aids in preventing finger contact of the user with theskewer rod 83 when it is hot. Preferably the handle 84 is molded of alow heat conductivity plastic so it does not become unduly hot duringuse of the cooker 10. The bottom end of each skewer 11, however, isprovided with a removable connector 87. Preferably, the connector 87 isalso molded of a low heat conductivity plastic so it also does notbecome unduly hot during use of the cooker. The removable connector 87,as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, functions as a component of the skewerdrive mechanism 15, and also functions as a handle at the skewer's lowerend when the skewer 11 is removed from operable assembly with the drivemechanism 15. The removable connector 87 is held on the skewer rod 83,and is removable therefrom, through blind bore 88 that is sized toreceive the skewer rod's point end 89 in a friction fit connectiontherewith. The friction fit is such that a user may remove and reinstallthe connector 87 on the skewer 11 without significant effort, but isalso such that the connector will not come off the skewer without aremoval force being exerted thereon by the user. The friction fit alsopreferably is such that the connector 87 will not slip off the skewer11, even with food bearing against it when the skewer is held verticallyas it is installed or removed fully loaded with the drive mechanism 15.This, of course, prevents the food (and particularly cooked food) fromaccidentally slipping off the skewer 11 as the skewer is handled by theuser when it is not connected with the drive mechanism 15.

The removable connector 87 includes a downwardly flaring conical dripdeflector 90 which extends radially outward from the top of a post 91.The post 91 is provided with the blind bore 88 into which the pointedend of skewer 11 is received in friction fit. The deflector 90 end ofthe post 91 is provided with ribs 92 (analagous to ribs 85 on handle 84)which make the connector 87 easier to grip by the user, therebyenhancing its handle function. The free end 93 of the post 91 is of asquare cross-sectional configuration, and is sized to be received indriven relation with the square bore 47 of any gear's axle 46. Allsquare bores 47 of all gears' axles 46 are of identical cross-sectionalconfiguration and size, and all the square shafts' ends 93 of allconnectors 87 are of the same configuration but of a slightly smallersize, thereby permitting any connector (and, thereby, any skewer 11) tobe received in driven relation with any of the idler 42 of drive 43gears. Each square post 91 also includes a bearing seat 95 defined byends 96 of ribs 92 on that post which, through cooperation with end edge97 of a gear's shaft 46, provides a limit stop that limits insertion ofthe connector 87 into a gear's square bore 47. Note, of course, that theshaft's square bore 47 is of a depth at least as great as that length ofthe post 91 without ribs 92. Importantly, the square post 91 is taperedor radiused, as at 98, at its free end to establish a generally circularcross-sectional configuration at the end thereof as at 99, see FIG. 5.This conical end 98, 99 to each square post 91 is quite important inthat it allows the cooker's user to easily install the skewer'sconnector 87 in a gear's square bore 47 while the gear 42 or 43 isturning since perfect registry between the connector's square post 91and the gear's square bore 47 is not required to start entry of theconnector's post into the gear's bore. And such reinstallation is easilymade when the skewer 11 is being held only by handle 84 since perfectregistry is not required between square post 91 and square bore 47 wheninitiating reconnection between same. Further, it is important to notethat the blind bore 88 in the connector 87, in cooperation with the dripdeflector 90, eliminates all possibility of food grease or drippingsfrom passing downwardly through the skewer's connector 87, and throughthe base plate 59, into the base's interior 100. This, of course, keepssuch drippings out of contact with the gears 42, 43 and other parts ofthe drive mechanism 15, which in turn prevents fouling of the drivemechanism and eliminates any need for periodic cleaning of same or thehousing's interior 100.

The food drippings removal assembly 16, which includes collector cup 18,also includes drip tray 17. The drip tray 17 overlies the housing's baseplate 59 and, in effect, constitutes the top wall of the base 14. Thedrip tray 17, which is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, includes a series ofports 102 through which the skewers' connectors 87 extend, and which arepositioned to overlie the respective gears' shafts 46. A boss 103 isprovided around each of these ports, which boss is smaller incross-sectional area than is the cross-sectional area of the associatedconnector's drip deflector 90. This structural relation insures thatdrippings which drip or fall off the connectors' deflectors 90 fall ontothe drip tray 17, and not through the drip tray's port 102 down onto thehousing's base plate 59. The drip tray 17 is provided with a drain hole104 that includes collar 105 sized to fit through drain hole 64 in thehousing's ceiling plate 59, and down into drippings conduit 39 moldedintegral with housing 20, to insure transfer of drippings from drip trayinto the cup 18 without loss. The drip tray 17 is further provided witha circular trough 107 around the exterior periphery thereof, the troughbeing pitched or slanged from a point 108 opposite the drain hole 104 ina downwardly sloping direction in semi-circular paths 107a, 107b towardthe drain hole. This pitching of the annular trough 107 insures thatdrippings which drain into the trough after falling on the drip tray 17will drain around to the drain hole 104 and through the drain hole intothe collector cup 18. The drip tray 17 is further characterized by adownwardly slanting surface 109 thereof which slants downwardly from thecenter of the drip tray toward the trough 107 to insure that drippingswhich fall anywhere on the drip tray are directed to the pitched trough107. The drip tray 17 may be coated with a non-stick material ifdesired.

The drip tray 17 also includes an annular inverted U-shaped channel 110around its exterior periphery. This channel 110, as shown in FIG. 3, issized to fit over the exterior periphery of the housing 20 at the topedge 62 thereof, and is received in seated relation with an exteriorannular groove 111 defined around the housing's top edge. This interfitof the tray's annular flange 110 with the housing's annular seat 111insures that the pitch of the drip tray 17 will be as intended relativeto the drain hole 104, and that drippings on the tray will drain fromthe center thereof toward the periphery thereof and from point 108 inthe drip tray's trough 107 toward the drain hole, when the drip tray isassembled with the housing. The drip tray 17 is not connected to thebase by any mechanical fasteners, but simply rests thereon as so locatedby the tray's flange 110 cooperating with the housing's annular seat 111as previously explained. This allows the drip tray 17 to be easilyremoved for cleaning when cleaning is desired simply by lifting itvertically upward until it clears the heater element 13. It is importantto note that the drip tray 17 also includes a tongue 112 which extendsinteriorly into a large center cut-out 113, that cut-out being sized toallow the drip tray to slide vertically over the heater element 13. Inthis regard, the drip tray 17 cannot be properly located on the housingin operative combination therewith unless the tongue 112 is receivedbetween those two legs 72a, 72b of the triple loop heater element 13which extend upwardly from the housing's ceiling plate 59. When soproperly oriented, same insures that the drip tray's drain hole 104 willoverlie the drain conduit 39 molded integral with the housing 20. Inother words, the drip tray tongue's interfit with the heater element 13provides a fail-safe feature that insures the drip tray 17 cannot beassembled incorrectly with the base 14 since any such attemptedincorrect assembly would result in interference of the tongue 112 withheater element 13.

A skewer chimney structure 19, as previously mentioned, is alsoincorporated with the rotary skewer cooker 10 of this invention. Theskewer chimney structure 19 includes a glass chimney or cover 115 of agenerally tubular configuration, i.e., open at both upper 116 and lower117 ends to atmosphere. The chimney 115, at its lower end 117, isprovided with an inwardly and downwardly depending annular flange 118that provides part of the means by which it is supported relative to thebase 14. The drip tray 17 mounts three seats 119 equally spaced one fromthe other around the periphery of the tray, the seats beingcharacterized by a downwardly sloping upper support surface 120 thatslopes downwardly from the outer periphery 121 of the tray toward thecenter thereof, and by a generally vertical inner step surface 122. Eachof these seats 119 is mounted to the drip tray 17 by a screw 123 throughslot 124 in the tray. In assembly with the base 14, the glass chimney115 merely sits on top of the drip tray's seats 119, it being retainedin generally coaxial position with the base's center axis 71 by virtueof the interference between the cover's annular flange 118 and theseat's inner faces 122. To remove the chimney 115 from assembly with thebase 14, one need merely grip the top edge 116 thereof so as to lift thechimney vertically out of operative combination with the base until itclears the skewers' handles 84. The finger channel 125 is in the natureof an outwardly opening groove which allows the top edge 116 of thechimney 115 to be readily gripped by a user. As shown in FIG. 3, andwhen the glass chimney 115 is in assembly with the base 14, noteparticularly that a phantom plane 126 which includes the chimney's topedge 116, which plane is normal to the vertical axis 71 of the base, isin a position such that only the handles 84 of the skewers 11 extendabove same. In other words, substantially the entire length of theskewer rods 83 are enclosed within the glass chimney 115, and the entireheating element 13 is enclosed within the glass chimney, i.e.,positioned beneath the phantom plane 126. This, of course, preventssubstantial splattering of food drippings into the environmentsurrounding the cooker 10, substantially all such splattering beingrestrained by the chimney, which being transparent, allows ready viewingof the food as it is cooked on the skewers. Note further that, becausethe chimney's bottom edge 117 is supported above the drip tray's trough107 by seats 119, an air gap G is created between the chimney 115 andthe base 14 through which air flow 114 can occur during use of thecooker. This air flow 114, which is a convection induced air flow upthrough the chimney due to heat generated within the enclosure 115 byheater 13, may enhance cooking of the food as discussed in detail below.Also this air flow 114 tends to cool food drippings in the tray's trough110 before same passes into cup 18, and tends to keep the skewers'handles 84 cool enough to touch by the cooker's user.

Use of the vertical skewer rotary cooker 10 of this invention by aretail consumer is quite simple and easy. Initially, and with the cookerassembled as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the skewers 11 are withdrawn one byone and loaded with the food to be cooked. This loading may beaccomplished by gripping each skewer's handle 84 in the right hand,removing the drive connector 87 from the skewer's rod 83 by the lefthand, loading the skewer with food pieces, and thereafter reinstallingthe connector on the skewer. The skewer 11 is then lowered verticallyinto the interior of the glass chimney 115 through use of handle 84only, the skewer connector's square post 93 being interengaged with agear's square bore 47. In this regard, such interengagement is easilyaccomplished without exact registry of this skewer connector's squarepost 93 with the gear's square bore 47 because of the radiused free end98 of the square post. The free end 98 structure of the connector's post93 locates that post in general axial relation with the gear's squarebore 47, and slight twisting of the skewer 11 by the user through use ofthe handle 84 permits very easy registry and final slip fit assembly.The skewer 11 is then dropped down until the skewer's square shaft 93 isfully received in the gear's square bore 47 as determined by the shaft'sseat 95 resting on the top surface 97 of the gear's axle 46. This skewerconnector 87/gear 42, 43 structure also permits easy assembly of theskewer with the skewer drive mechanism 15 even when the gears 42, 43 arerotating, i.e., even when the cooker is operating. This for the reason,again, that exact registry of a skewer connector's square shaft 93 isnot required with a gear's square bore 47 in order to achieve initialinterengagement, with final interengagement being easily achieved oncethat initial interengagement has occurred as previously explained.

With one or more of all of the skewers 11 fully loaded, as desired bythe user, and with those skewers installed with the drive mechanism 15as shown in FIG. 3, the cooker is ready to be activated by off/on switch79. Use of off/on switch 79, with the electric cord 75, 80 plugged in,energizes the center vertical heating element 13, and also activates thedrive motor 55. This simultaneously causes the skewers 11 to rotate ontheir axes 45 as driven by the skewer drive mechanism 15. Rotation ofthese skewers 11 exposes the food sections thereon to the hat generatedby the electric resistance heater 13, thereby cooking the food products.The evenness of cooking of the food products is promoted because of thechimney 115. The chimney 115, being upraised slightly above the driptray 17 to provide a gap G between the cover's bottom edge 117 and thedrip tray's top surface, in combination with the heat generated by theelectric heater 13, promotes upward convection currents or air flow 114within the glass cover and this aids in even cooking of the foodproducts. Also this air flow 114, in combination with the skewer'shandles 84 being positioned outside of, i.e., above, the chimney 115,aids in keeping the skewers' handles cool enough for handling by a user.Further, the glass chimney 115 also cooperates to cut down or reduce thetime required to achieve thorough cooking of any given food products,relative to the time required if no chimney were used, since the chimneytends to retain the heat interiorly thereof. Additionally, the chimney115 provides an important advantage in that it prevents splatter orother distant exterior discharge of food drippings, e.g., grease or thelike, since any such splatter is onto the cover's interior surface, anddirected downwardly onto the drip tray 17. This, of course, is a safetyadvantage. And it will be particularly noted that the height of thechimney 115 is such that all of the skewers' handles 84 extend above thecover's top edge 116. This permits the rotary cooker's user to grip theskewers' handles 84 and, thereby, remove or reinstall the skewers 11relative to the cooker's drive mechanism 15, without reaching into thecover's interior, and without reaching into perhaps unsafe proximity tothe cooker's heating element 13 or hot food on adjacent skewers. This isa very desirable feature, and is brought about because of the fact thatthe skewer's handles 84 extend above the cooker's chimney 115.

As the cooker 10 is used, the food drippings, e.g., grease or other foodjuices, that exude from the food pieces on the skewers 11 generally flowdownwardly onto the drip tray 17. These drippings are prevented fromfollowing the skewer rod 83 into the housing's interior 100 because eachskewer rod ends in blind bore 88 of the skewer's connector 87. In thisregard, therefore, the drip shield 90 at the top end of each skewer'sconnector 87 deflects the drippings and insures that the drippings drainoff the drip shields' edges onto the drip tray 17 since the diameter ofeach deflector 90 is substantially greater than the diameter of anassociated port 102 in the drip tray (and associated bore 60 in thehousing's ceiling plate 59) through which the connector 87 passes toachieve its innerconnection with a gear 42, 43 of the skewer drivemechanism 15. The drip tray 17 itself, as previously described, is domedfrom a high point at the center of the tray to a low point along theperipheral edge so that all drippings or splatterings onto the traydrain outwardly into trough 107 adjacent the tray's periphery. Further,the trough 107 defined around the tray's periphery is pitched or slantedfrom a high point 108 disposed opposite the drain hole 104 in thattrough to the drain hole itself, thereby promoting flow of the drippingsall around the tray's periphery toward the drain hole. The drain hole104, as previously mentioned, is coaxially disposed above conduit 39formed integral with the base's housing 20. This conduit 39 ispositioned above collector cup 18 received in the housing's pocket 26.The collector cup 18 is retained in that pocket 26 by cooperativegrooves 35 and ribs 34 partially carried by the collector cup's floor 33and partially carried by the housing pocket's floor 30. The level ofdrippings in the collector cup is readily visible since the collectorcup's handle 18b itself is hollow and provides a part of the cup'sdrippings storage capacity. The cup handle 18b extends outwardly beyondthe housing's sidewall 22, and although positioned beneath one of thehousing's handles 23a there is a sufficient gap D between the cup's topedge 18c and the housing's handle to permit visual observation ofdrippings collected in the cup. When the cup is undesirably full, it maybe removed simply by gripping the indentations 129 molded therein so asto remove it and empty it. If the housing's pocket 26 itself becomesundesirably dirty from spilled drippings, the housing pocket's floorplate 30 may be removed so that the pocket can be completely cleaned,too.

When use of the rotary cooker 10 is finished, and after the glass cover115 has cooled, the glass cover itself may be easily and simply removedfrom operative combination with the cooker simply by gripping it alongthe finger groove 125 provided adjacent its top edge, and lifting itvertically upward off the base 14 until the cover's bottom edge clear'sthe heating element 13 and any skewers 11 still assembled with the unit.No latches or other connector mechanism is required because the glasscover 115 itself is simply received in gravity fixed position on seats119 carried by the drip tray 17. With the cover 115 removed, and withall the skewers 11 removed from operative combination with the base, thecooker's drip tray 17 also may be easily removed simply by lifting samevertically upward until it, too, clears the heating element 13. As withthe glass cover 115, the drip tray 17 is not connected to the base 14 byany type of fastener either, outer flange 110 of the drip tray simplybeing received in annular groove 111 in the housing's outer face toproperly position it in operative combination with the housing. The driptray 17 itself, after cleaning, is reinstalled in a sequence opposite toits removal. And reinstallation of the drip tray 17 can be accomplishedin only the proper operative position since tongue 112 on the drip traymust be properly positioned between legs 72a, 72b of the resistanceheater element 13 for the tray to be properly seated on the housing 20as previously described. If the drip tray's tongue 112 is inadvertentlypositioned between the short legs 72c, 72d of the resistance heaterelement, that tongue will interfere with cross loop 66 between those twolegs as it is lowered into position, and that cross loop interferencewith the tongue will prevent the tray 17 from being lowered all the wayinto proper operative combination with the housing. This, of course,would bring to the user's attention that the drip tray 17 is improperlyoriented relative to the housing. Proper orientation relative to thehousing for the drip tray 17 in overlying relation with the housing'sconduit 39 and, therefore, with the collector cup.

Having described in detail the preferred embodiment of my invention,what we desire to claim and protect by Letters Patent is:
 1. A rotaryskewer cooker comprisinga plurality of skewers, said skewers beinggenerally vertically oriented, a heat source connected to a housing,said heat source being adapted to cook food on said skewers, a skewerdrive mechanism at least partially mounted in said housing, said skewersbeing selectively interconnectable with and disengageable from saidskewer drive mechanism as desired by a user, at least one handle on saidhousing for lifting said cooker, structure defining a pocket in saidhousing, said pocket being positioned beneath a drain hole in the topsurface of said housing, and said pocket including an opening in saidhousing's sidewall, and a drip cup received in said pocket, said dripcup and pocket being sized to cooperate in positioning said cup beneathsaid drain hole for receipt of drippings from food cooked on said cookerwhen said drip cup has been located in said pocket, said drip cup beingselectively removable when desired by the cooker's user to remove excessdrippings from said cooker, and said drip cup being reciprocable intoand out of operative position with said housing in a line ofreciprocation that extends beneath said handle, the clearance betweenthe top edge of said cup's handle and said housing's handle being suchas to permit viewing of the cup's contents by the cooker's user.
 2. Arotary skewer cooker as set forth in claim 1, said cooker comprisingadrip tray that functions as the top surface of said housing, said driptray having an annular trough with said drain hole being located in saidannular trough, said annular trough being pitched toward said drain holeso that food drippings on said drip tray drain toward said drain holeand, thereafter, into said collector cup.
 3. A rotary skewer cooker asset forth in claim 1, said cup comprisinga handle structured to extendbeyond said housing's sidewall when said cup is fully received in saidpocket, said cup being constructed to permit viewing of said cup'sinterior by the cooker's user to determine the level of drippingstherein.
 4. A rotary skewer cooker comprisinga plurality of skewers,said skewers being generally vertically oriented, a heat sourceconnected to a housing, said heat source being adapted to cook food onsaid skewers, a skewer drive mechanism at least partially mounted insaid housing, said skewers being selectively interconnectable with anddisengageable from said skewer drive mechanism as desired by a user,structure defining a pocket in said housing, said pocket beingpositioned beneath a drain hole in the top surface of said housing, andsaid pocket including an opening in said housing's sidewall, a drip cupreceived in said pocket, said drip cup and said pocket being sized tocooperate in positioning said cup beneath said drain hole for receipt ofdrippings from food cooked on said cooker when said drip cup has beenlocated in said pocket, said drip cup being selectively removable whendesired by the cooker's user to remove excess drippings from saidcooker, a removable floor plate for said pocket, and latch means adaptedto connect said floor plate with said housing.
 5. A rotary skewer cookeras set forth in claim 4, said cooker comprisingmeans partially carriedby said housing's pocket and partially carried by said cup to preventsaid cup from inadvertently sliding out of said pocket during use ofsaid cooker.
 6. A rotary skewer cooker comprisinga plurality of skewers,said skewers being generally vertically oriented, a skewer drivemechanism at least partially mounted in a housing, said skewers beingselectively interconnectable with said skewer drive mechanism as desiredby a user, an electric heating element connected to said housing, saidelectric heating element being generally vertically oriented, and a driptray that functions as the top surface of said housing, said drip traybeing removable from and reinstallable with said housing simply bymoving said drip tray in vertical fashion relative to said heatingelement when said skewers are disconnected from said skewer drivemechanism, said drip tray comprisinga port that cooperates with saidelectric heating element to permit that vertical motion, and a tongueextending inwardly into said heating element port, said tonguecooperating with said heating element in a manner that permits said driptray to be assembled with said housing in a single orientation only. 7.A rotary skewer cooker as set forth in claim 6, said drip traycomprisingan annular trough with a drain hole being located in saidannular trough, said annular trough being pitched toward said drain holeso that food drippings on said drip tray drain toward said drain hole.8. A rotary skewer cooker as set forth in claim 7, said drip traycomprisingone of a flanged edge and a flanged seat adapted to cooperatewith the other of a flanged edge and a flanged seat provided on saidhousing, said flanged edge and flanged seat of said drip tray and saidhousing cooperating when said drip tray is mounted on said housing toproperly maintain said drip tray in desired orientation for insuringthat food drippings on said drip tray drain toward said drain holethrough use of said pitched trough.